Lunar landing: the Chinese probe lands on the back of the moon – Foreign News

According to their own statements, the Chinese managed to place a spacecraft on the back of the moon. "Chang & # 39; and 4" landed successfully at 3:26 CET on Thursday at the Aitken crater near the South Pole satellite. This is reported by the Chinese state television channel CCTV and the official Xinhua news agency.

Never before has a lander reached the farthest side of the moon.

On board the "Chang & # 39; and 4" is a robotic vehicle that will explore the terrain around the landing site.

According to Chinese experts, it was an extremely difficult maneuver: since the terrain is not flat like the front one, there could have been landing problems. Furthermore, it is not possible to establish a direct radio link on the back of the satellite.

The Chinese then sent the "Queqiao" transmission satellites into the moon's orbit in May to send signals from the radio's shadow. "The whole process is quite complicated and there will be many risks," said Yu Guobin, a spokesman for the space program, before starting state television.

The "Chang & # 39; e 4" probe is named after the Chinese moon goddess and was launched on December 8th.